Instructional &
Informational Posts
You may have done a sun salutation before. How about 108 of them? On August 17th, 10 cities across Canada will participate in the second annual Yogathon sponsored by the Art of Living Foundation (one of the largest not-for-profit humanitarian education efforts in the world). The yogathon will be sealed with a guided meditation by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, live drummers and free (yes free) massages at the end in the “Zen Lounge.”
We spoke with coordinator, Tara Verma, and Art of Living teacher, Pooja Sund, to find out more about the massages…we mean the event. They told us how a yogathon fits into the yoga tradition and how we may have been doing yoga before we were even born.
Hi Tara and Puja! We take it that you are participants on Saturday?
Pooja (laughs): Absolutely! How could I not?
The word “yogathon” sounds competitive!
Tara: Yoga is the opposite of competitive. But sometimes you can push yourself and find out who you are on your mat. This event is about breaking those boundaries that we have for ourselves. The great thing is that is an opportunity to move past limitations. Maybe you can’t do 108 sun salutations. But maybe you can! The only way you will know is if you try. It’s a challenge, but it’s a personal challenge.
Can most people do a sun salutation?
Tara: Absolutely, the yogathon welcomes beginners to people who practice regularly. Last year we had yogis from 6 to 70.
Pooja: We have all done yoga in our mother’s wombs – downward dog and cobra are natural to all of us! If you don’t have a regular practice, coming to an event that challenges you is a great way to train the mind and the body.
We saw that there’s a training schedule on the website! Is training recommended?
Tara: We have some training sessions available for groups, but many people last year followed the training schedule on their own. We had just as many people show up last year with no training to attempt the 108 challenge!
Could someone with no training at all get through the 108?
Tara: Two of my girlfriends were both able to do 108 without training. We go at a moderate pace, probably about one minute for one sun salutation.
Is this practice meant to be mostly physical, or does it still fit into the spiritual ideals of yoga?
Pooja: If we trace back the roots, more and more people are looking for a yoga practice that is not just about the physical but is about balancing the mind and the breath. Even this challenge is not just about muscle toning – it can help people to have focused thoughts and be more creative.
Why 108?
Tara: The number 108 is considered sacred in a lot of Eastern cultures and has become a tradition to perform 108 sun salutations at the change of each season and at the longest and shortest day of the year. For this yogathon we are offering 108 sun salutations as a message of hope to underprivileged children.
Pooja: We could have an entire conversation on the number 108! Beads used for chanting have 108 beads and the number can help with miraculous changes to the body and mind.
The proceeds are going to Care for Children. Tell us more.
Tara: The Art of Living foundation founded Care for Children in 1981 and has since educated 30,000 children in rural and tribal India. We believe very strongly in holistic education. These kids learn yoga and meditation. We also try to uplift society to make sure the impact we have is long lasting.
Tara expects that this is the just one of many, many Yogathons so if you can’t show up on Saturday, you can always take the year to train. If you want to go, there’s still time to sign up, even if 108 ends up not happening. That’s what child’s pose is for!
